


A Year Of Difference

by matters17793



Series: Harry Potter Previous Generation [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Conflict Resolution, Confrontations, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Feelings, Friendship, Gay Male Character, Hurt/Comfort, LGBTQ, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28477398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matters17793/pseuds/matters17793
Summary: A sequel forFrom The OutsideandOn The InsideIt's been a full year since James and Sirius last spoke, and Remus has had quite enough of it all.THIS WORK IS COMPLETE.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black/James Potter (one-sided)
Series: Harry Potter Previous Generation [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2082615
Comments: 13
Kudos: 15





	A Year Of Difference

**Author's Note:**

> This is the final part of this particular plotline, although I will probably write more work on the Previous Generation characters, particularly the Marauders.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.
> 
> Told from Remus' POV.

It had been by far the longest year on record, or at least that was how it had felt. Sirius had been an emotional wreck at first, and I have to take responsibility for that. If I hadn't told him to be open about his feelings, then none of this would have happened and we would all still share a close bond.

James and Lily had both completely avoided us, which to me spoke louder than words. It was obvious that they wanted nothing to do with us, despite the fact that I was sure Lily already knew how Sirius felt. In many ways, this had made me similar to a referee, albeit a biased one.

I had moved in with Sirius because I didn't want him to feel as if he was alone. If anything, I wanted to make sure he was okay, and knew that at least someone cared about him. He had stayed with me, despite my nightly transformations in the moonlight, so how could I leave him?

When Sirius woke up, he would usually go downstairs and get an alcoholic drink, and I believed this was due to him wanting to drown his sorrows on a continual basis. He kept assuring me that he just liked to have a drink in the morning, but I struggled to believe him.

I wasn't prepared to let him waste his life any more, as he was far too good a friend to me to allow that to happen. I took the drink away from him, deciding that it was time to sort this out and finally get some proper closure to this whole situation.

"This is going to stop!" I yelled "It has gone on too long!"

"What has?" Sirius reacted "Enlighten me"

"You moping over James" I said.

"I'm not, I just like to have a drink now and then" Sirius insisted.

"Perhaps we should test that excuse out" I suggested.

"I don't follow what you are implying" Sirius persisted.

"Let's meet up with James, and we'll see who feels what" I proposed.

"You know what? Do it, then I'll show you I've moved on" Sirius agreed.

I used my wand to clean myself up, as I would whenever I got dressed. I took more pride in my appearance than Sirius did, but that wasn't really important. Once we were both dressed, Sirius walked out of the house, and I followed him closely, locking the door behind me.

"I know you still like him" I began.

"Believe what you want, he's nothing to me and after today, he will be out of my life forever" Sirius pledged.

"Stop denying yourself" I ordered "You know full well that---"

"Shut up!" Sirius shouted "You are making so much out of this!"

To say the atmosphere around us was tense would be an understatement. Sirius didn't say another word, so I kept silent too. We arrived at our destination, James' own house, and I knocked at the door. I felt a bit nervous, but I wasn't going to let this go on. James opened the door, looking shocked when he saw us.

"S-Sirius?" James stuttered "R-Remus"

"Can we come in?" I wondered "We have something to say"

As if he was unable to find words to say, James nodded and moved aside, allowing both of us to walk into his front room. Lily was sat down on the sofa, and I was surprised when she ran up and hugged both myself and Sirius.

"It's so good to see you" Lily declared "It's been too long"

"I know, but it's not as if you tried to change that, is it?" I responded.

"Wait" James instructed "It's my fault, let me explain"

"Okay" Sirius uttered.

As we all sat down on the sofa, I felt a familiar sensation of being around people I cared about. I was still finding it difficult to look at James, because of his avoidance, but Lily's warm greeting had allowed me to start forgiving her.

"Look, things haven't been very good over the last year" James explained "I wanted to talk to you immediately, but you left and since then I thought you wouldn't want to give me the time of day"

"It hurt you know" Sirius responded "Either way, I just wanted to know how you felt, but you didn't speak, and I thought you hated me"

"No, I could never do that" James rejoined "I'd never hurt any of me best friends, at least not intentionally"

"He was heartbroken" I interjected "And it was so hard to witness the tough time he went through"

"Oh... I'm sorry" James apologised.

We were back to awkward silence once more, and this was now becoming excruciating. I believed now that none of us wanted this horrible feeling to continue, but it was as if none of us knew what to say. After a few minutes of silence, Lily spoke.

"Would this be a good time to say we broke up, and now only roommates?" Lily wondered "Because of this"

"What?" Sirius replied.

"We were in a great relationship, but something changed when you told James your feelings" Lily sighed.

"In what way?" I enquired.

"He became less interested in me, and started looking at pictures of Sirius all the time" Lily said "And then a few months ago, James told me something"

"What was that?" Sirius begged "I must know"

"I thought you weren't interested anymore?" I countered.

"Shut up, please" Sirius warned "Or there'll be trouble"

"Fine" I concurred.

"James told me that..." Lily struggled "Perhaps he should tell you"

With interest high, both Sirius and I looked at James, and when I actually saw his face, I could see how broken he was. I decided that my best action would be to not say anything, and instead just listen to what needed to be said by everyone else.

"Well Sirius, I realised that... I should've said something earlier" James mumbled.

"Go on James" Sirius encouraged.

"I like you too" James retorted "I just had such a good life with Lily, and I didn't want to be unfair to her"

"If you preferred Sirius, going out with me was unfair" Lily replied "And I'm not angry, just a little disappointed that he wasn't honest"

At that point, I expected Sirius to leap with joy, or to kiss James, but instead Sirius became very, very serious and looked only into James' eyes. He put his hands on James' shoulders and pulled him slightly closer, before responding to James' words.

"I'm sorry, but I've moved on" Sirius said "Whilst I'm pleased that you do like me, I don't want to be with someone who avoids me"

"But I explained it to you" James protested "I---"

"That's not the point" Sirius interrupted "I don't want someone to make me feel like that ever, so I'm afraid I don't feel like that about you anymore"

Standing up, Sirius signalled for me to join him, and we walked out of the house. I had no idea what was going on anymore, but I could see the tears in James' eyes, and after everything that we'd all been through, I began to believe that the whole issue would remain forever.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to be less predictable and make this a sad ending.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
